Lakers, Heat prepare to face off in Finals
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. >> Bam Adebayo woke up on Monday with the realization that only two teams still have a chance to win this season’s NBA championship.
Goosebumps kicked in at the thought.
What was once a 22team bubble at Walt Disney World is down to the final two, with Adebayo and the Miami Heat set to take on LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals that start on Wednesday night. It’s the first finals matchup between the clubs, with the Lakers looking for a record-tying 17th title and the Heat seeking their fourth in the past 15 seasons.
“It’s pretty cool considering, when you really think about it, it’s you and one other team that are still left standing and one of the two will be raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy,” Adebayo said Monday. “But we know that the job isn’t done yet.”
The Heat were spending much of Monday resting up before an evening team meeting would officially start their finals preparation process. The Lakers, who won the Western Conference finals on Saturday — a day before Miami finished off the Eastern Conference crown — were starting to get their game plan in order after a one- day break as well.
Much like the Heat, the Lakers took a moment to enjoy winning the conference title. Winning a day ahead of Miami just happens to give the Lakers a bit more time to prepare for Game 1.
“We appropriately had fun with it that night, enjoyed it that night. And then the next day, it’s time to move on to the next,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Monday. “I don’t think there’s any kind of an eye towards the end of getting home or anything like that. It’s really about staying single-minded in our focus about what needs to happen for us to beat the Miami Heat.”
Both teams are scheduled for regular practices today.
The Heat, who ousted East No. 1 seed Milwaukee in the second round, are trying to become the second team in the last 18 seasons to beat a pair of No. 1 seeds in the same playoff. Toronto did it last year, first to Milwaukee, then to Golden State.
RIVERS OUT AS COACH OF CLIPPERS >> Doc Rivers says he’s out as coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, though did not specify if he chose to leave on his own or if he was fired. Rivers announced in a statement posted to Twitter that he is not returning as coach. The move comes about two weeks after the Clippers wasted a 3-1 series lead and lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals.
“When I took this job, my goals were to make this a winning basketball program, a free agent destination, and bring a championship to this organization,” Rivers wrote in a statement. “While I was able to accomplish most of my goals, I won’t be able to see them all through.”